7 ms·

The coldest city in Europe is Helsinki. According to Wikipedia, the average high is 9 C and the average low is 2.9 C. For Whittier, the average high is 7.3 C an

by cgh 12y ago

The coldest city in Europe is Helsinki. According to Wikipedia, the average high is 9 C and the average low is 2.9 C. For Whittier, the average high is 7.3 C and the low is 1.7 C. Can you give some examples of these many European cities that are colder, on average?

lucaspiller 12y ago
Not sure where you got that Helsinki is the coldest city, I'm not even sure it's the coldest capital. There are plenty of colder cities, take a look at Kiruna as an example (which was also featured here a few weeks ago): https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kiruna#Climate https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kiruna#Climate Edit: Ah I think I understand, my original comment was referring to being cold in the depths of winter, not the average temperature. Right now I'm in Vilnius the capital of Lithuania, it get's colder than Whittier (and Helsinki) in the winter but a lot hotter in the summer, so the average isn't that bad: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vilnius#Climate https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vilnius#Climate
- bennettfeely 12y ago
  Just as a little fun fact Ulaanbaatar, the capital of Mongola is the coldest capital city in the world. Right now Accuweather says it's -18°F (0°C). It regularly dips below -40°F/C in the winter.
  - deleted 12y ago
    [deleted]
  - raverbashing 12y ago
    -18°F (0°C) What? -18F is -27C 0C is 32F
    - thedufer 12y ago
      I think parent swapped F/C. -18°C is 0°F
detaro 12y ago
You probably mean Helsinki is the coldest capital in Europe?
- cgh 12y ago
  Actually, I just meant "cities of a certain size" more than anything else.
_delirium 12y ago
If the comparison is winter temperatures, rather than year-round averages, it would make more sense to compare the coldest month (otherwise you mix together the effect of cold winters and cool summers, which are very different experientially). Helsinki has colder winters than Whittier does, though not by a huge margin. Whittier's coldest month is January, with average high -0.4 C (31 F) and average low -5.1 C (23 F). Helsinki's is February, with average high -1.9 (29 F) and average low -7.4 C (19 F). Whittier has a lower year-round average because it has cooler summers (highs around 60 F / 15 C, versus Helsinki's ~70 F / 20 C). Helsinki is a pretty temperate city for Finland, though, being on the southeastern coast. Oulu and Tampere are a lot colder!
phamilton 12y ago
Some cities in Northern Sweden and their yearly average low/high: Kiruna: -8.1 to 1.8 Luleå: -1.5 to 5.9 Umeå: -0.8 to 6.7 Luleå and Umeå both have Universities and populations of ~45k and ~80k respectively. Kiruna is a mining town. I lived in Umeå for a few months, it's actually pretty pleasant.
arethuza 12y ago
Vorkuta looks to be on the European side of the Urals - and that's pretty chilly: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vorkuta http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vorkuta

by cgh 12y ago

lucaspiller 12y ago

Not sure where you got that Helsinki is the coldest city, I'm not even sure it's the coldest capital. There are plenty of colder cities, take a look at Kiruna as an example (which was also featured here a few weeks ago): https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kiruna#Climate https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kiruna#Climate Edit: Ah I think I understand, my original comment was referring to being cold in the depths of winter, not the average temperature. Right now I'm in Vilnius the capital of Lithuania, it get's colder than Whittier (and Helsinki) in the winter but a lot hotter in the summer, so the average isn't that bad: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vilnius#Climate https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vilnius#Climate

bennettfeely 12y ago
Just as a little fun fact Ulaanbaatar, the capital of Mongola is the coldest capital city in the world. Right now Accuweather says it's -18°F (0°C). It regularly dips below -40°F/C in the winter.
- deleted 12y ago
  [deleted]
- raverbashing 12y ago
  -18°F (0°C) What? -18F is -27C 0C is 32F
  - thedufer 12y ago
    I think parent swapped F/C. -18°C is 0°F

detaro 12y ago

You probably mean Helsinki is the coldest capital in Europe?

cgh 12y ago
Actually, I just meant "cities of a certain size" more than anything else.

_delirium 12y ago

If the comparison is winter temperatures, rather than year-round averages, it would make more sense to compare the coldest month (otherwise you mix together the effect of cold winters and cool summers, which are very different experientially). Helsinki has colder winters than Whittier does, though not by a huge margin. Whittier's coldest month is January, with average high -0.4 C (31 F) and average low -5.1 C (23 F). Helsinki's is February, with average high -1.9 (29 F) and average low -7.4 C (19 F). Whittier has a lower year-round average because it has cooler summers (highs around 60 F / 15 C, versus Helsinki's ~70 F / 20 C). Helsinki is a pretty temperate city for Finland, though, being on the southeastern coast. Oulu and Tampere are a lot colder!

phamilton 12y ago

Some cities in Northern Sweden and their yearly average low/high: Kiruna: -8.1 to 1.8 Luleå: -1.5 to 5.9 Umeå: -0.8 to 6.7 Luleå and Umeå both have Universities and populations of ~45k and ~80k respectively. Kiruna is a mining town. I lived in Umeå for a few months, it's actually pretty pleasant.

arethuza 12y ago

Vorkuta looks to be on the European side of the Urals - and that's pretty chilly: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vorkuta http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vorkuta